Fielding Graduate University News

Women in Leadership: Motivations, Experiences, and Reflections

Accomplished women leaders from government and education sectors share their stories about compelling national and global issues.

Fielding Graduate University and Worldwide Network for Gender Empowerment (WNGE), present Women in Leadership: Motivations, Experiences, and Reflections on Tuesday, April 8th at 6:00 pm at the Marjorie Luke Theatre, 721 East Cota, Santa Barbara. Fielding faculty member and WNGE founder Anna DiStefano will moderateanengaging conversation between highly accomplished women leaders from government and education sectors. This dialogue will be structured as a conversation around women’s ways of leading and will share their stories about compelling national and global issues. This panel will feature: US Secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, Director of Education at the Folger Library Peggy O’Brien, and President of Fielding Graduate University Katrina Rogers. Members of the public are invited to this insightful dialogue which will open a window into the world of women involved in the compelling issues of our time, both nationally and around the globe.

For the past 40 years, Fielding Graduate University’s commitment to research and action in support of knowledge and change in relation to women's and gender issues has always been a top priority. In alignment with Fielding’s values and through her personal commitment, Fielding faculty member Anna DiStefano took action on this initiative and founded Worldwide Network for Gender Empowerment (WNGE),a virtual community which serves as a resource for connecting diverse individuals and as a collaborator with other emerging and established networks interested in gender empowerment. It is with the intent to share the importance of and dedication to women’s and gender initiatives that Fielding Graduate University and WNGE are pleased to be hosting such a special gathering of women in leadership.

Panelists

Kathleen Sebelius was sworn in as the 21st Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on April 28, 2009. Since taking office, Secretary Sebelius has led ambitious efforts to improve America’s health and enhance the delivery of human services to some of the nation’s most vulnerable populations, including young children, those with disabilities, and the elderly. As part of the historic Affordable Care Act, she is implementing reforms that have ended many of the insurance industry’s worst abuses and will help 34 million uninsured Americans get health coverage. She is also working with doctors, nurses, hospital leaders, employers, and patients to slow the growth in health care costs through better care and better health. Under Secretary Sebelius’s leadership, HHS is committed to innovation, from promoting public-private collaboration to bring life-saving medicines to market, to building a 21st century food safety system that prevents outbreaks before they occur, to collaborating with the Department of Education to help states increase the quality of early childhood education programs. Sebelius served as Governor of Kansas from 2003 until her Cabinet appointment and was named one of America’s Top Five Governors by Time Magazine.

Peggy O’Brien is a veteran educator, entrepreneur, and media expert. With deep experience in public and commercial media, O’Brien has held leadership positions in educational publishing, public broadcasting, the cable industry, and academia. She was most recently recruited by the Folger Shakespeare Library to create groundbreaking digital work in teaching Shakespeare and the humanities. Prior to that, she completed three years on the DC Public Schools leadership team as Chief of Family and Public Engagement, leading work with families and community engagement for perhaps the nation’s most controversial school reform effort. With a PhD in Education from American University and a recipient of many national awards including an honorary degree from Georgetown University, O’Brien teaches, speaks, and publishes on education, Shakespeare, and the power of media.

Katrina Rogers is President of Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara, CA, a distinguished graduate school known for adult learners in the fields of clinical psychology, human development, organizational leadership, and education. In the course of her career, she has served the international non-governmental and educational sectors in many roles, including executive, board member, and teacher. She led the European campus for Thunderbird School of Global Management in Geneva, Switzerland for a decade, working with international organizations such as the Red Cross, World Trade Organization, United Nations Development Program, and the European Union. She has doctorates in political science and history. In addition to many articles and books focused on organizational leadership in sustainability, Rogers serves on the Boards of the Toda Institute for Global Policy & Peace Research and the Public Dialogue Consortium. She received a Presidential post-doctoral fellowship from the Humboldt Foundation and was a Fulbright scholar to Germany where she taught environmental politics and history.

Moderator

Anna DiStefano joined the doctoral faculty of the School of Educational Leadership & Change (ELC) at Fielding Graduate University in 2010. Before that, she served as Provost (Chief Academic Officer) for Fielding from 1996 to 2010. She has been a part of the Fielding community since 1983 serving in several senior executive capacities including Vice President of Academic Planning & Program Development, and Dean, Human and Organization Development (HOD). She currently serves on Fielding’s Senate Leadership Committee and also as Chair of the Faculty of ELC.

DiStefano received her EdD and her MEd, both in counseling, from Boston University. Her undergraduate degree, AB in history, was received from Trinity College, D.C. She was also selected as an American Council of Education Fellow (1987 - 1988).

Beyond the Job Description

by Jesse Sostrin, PhD (HOC '08)

Remember back to your first few days in a new job. If you’re like most people, you quickly discovered that the “job description” that explained your role was quite different from the reality you faced.

Nobody told you this, but the day you were hired you actually accepted two jobs. The first was the position you interviewed for, including the title and all of the responsibilities outlined on paper. The second “job-within-the-job” included the unspoken work that required you to manage constant change, effectively collaborate with difficult people, navigate confusing workplace politics, and get your best work done in an environment of shrinking resources and increasing demands.

In today’s competitive landscape, standing out, getting ahead of the change curve, and staying relevant at work comes from the ability to go beyond your job description and continuously improve your learning and performance as you confront the hidden demands of work. These two factors—the need for continuous learning and performance and the presence of performance barriers—form what Sostrin calls the hidden curriculum of work.

The book provides research-driven insights, diagnostic tools, and stories of employees and leaders who have managed to turn their greatest challenges at work into opportunities for breakthrough performance. It is no longer an option to simply ignore the hidden curriculum of work.

Beyond the Job Description translates the world of work and leads readers on a critical path to:

Discover the mutual agenda where your individual values and aspirations align with the needs of the team and the goals of your organization;

Know what is most important right now and focus on the vital purpose and value-added contributions that can help you stand out and stay ahead of the change curve;

Establish a system to identify hidden challenges that undermine your performance and learn to transform those barriers into opportunities for improved learning and performance; and

Develop a clear vision and plan to achieve the working life you want.

What we read on our job descriptions and on our business cards, and what we encounter in the actual workplace, are two very different things. This is the double-reality of work in action. My passion is to help people identify their hidden curriculum of work®, learn how to manage it, and start on the path to Future-Proof their careers by standing out, staying ahead of the change curve, and remaining relevant on the job.

When we face the hidden curriculum of work without a plan we often fail to contribute our best effort, we lose sight of the things that inspire us, and we disengage. Beyond the Job Description can help you translate your frustrations at work into useful insights that boost your learning and performance and increase the value of your contributions to the team and organization.

About the Author: Jesse Sostrin is a consultant, writer, and speaker working at the intersection of individual and organizational success. He is best known for translating complex ideas about the workplace into simple language and useful tools. He is the Founder and President of Sostrin Consulting, a leadership and organization development practice and he previously served as the Vice President of Workforce, Leadership & Organization Development at Wilshire Health & Community Services in San Luis Obispo, CA. He has worked with Fortune 500 companies as well as education, government, and non-profit sector organizations including University of Arizona, InfoGard Laboratories, PR Newswire, Hyatt, MillerCoors, Walmart, ConAgra, Microsoft, and Allstate. Sostrin is also an experienced academic, teaching courses at UC Davis and serving as an adjunct faculty member at the Orfalea College of business at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. He is the author of another book Re-Making Communication at Work. He has a PhD in Human and Organizational Systems, and a MA in Organization Management & Development.

Helping People Change Through Dreamwork

The New England cluster celebrated thirteen years of gatherings by invitingAlice Kitchel (HOD '12) and Beth Scanzani of Dream Coach of Rockport, MA, to speak to the group about dreamwork. Special guest President Katrina Rogers also attended to discuss dreaming of Fielding's future.

Reported by Jim Webber, PhD (HOD '03)

President Rogers bowled us over on her visit to the Fielding New England alumni group on Saturday, February 8, in Gloucester, MA. The view from host Rick Maybury’s (HOD '12) office on the waterfront was spectacular and snow-free for a change.

Katrina presented her ideas and directions for raising the value of Fielding Graduate University, in other words in building our brand. Our core identity is centered on mentored transformational learning, relational learning, life-long learning, and value based education. Fielding stands for innovation in graduate education. We need to embrace new ways of thinking. Because the world needs us we must think in terms of global social systems and the future of the earth.

Change Through Dreamwork

"Dreams do work so get to work on your dreams" urged practitioners Alice Kitchel and Beth Scanzani. Dreams help us solve problems and preview future challenges. Dreams serve as a magic mirror, a secret laboratory and a creative studio. Our brain has two operating systems, one for “reality,” one for our own unfolding dreamscape. In waking life, we combine letters and words to form sentences. In dreams we combine images to spell-out associations and create a story or even a nightmare. Dreams are like having a resident life coach who knows you from inside out.

To learn from a dream you must engage with it. The process of successful “dream catching” includes: creating a record, writing the story in present tense, giving it a title, drawing-out connections, applying dream work tools and looking for themes, surprises and limiting beliefs.

To apply this learning, we used the projective team process on a brave cluster mate’s dream. First the dreamer gave the dream a title and second she told the dream. In the third step the group asks clarifying questions followed by their own “hits,” projections and associations answering the question, “If this were my dream.” Finally the dreamer shares her hits and reactions and decides how she would like to honor the dream.

Dream we must!

Rick Maybury’s message to Katrina following the visit:

I want to thank you from all of our alums for your thoughtful and enriching visit. We are all pleased that you took the time and energy to join us and your interactions could not have been more authentic or inspiring. As I had mentioned in the meeting, it is refreshing and provides hope that the President is finally having what most of us believe to be the right conversation.

Your presentation on the state of the state, including your vision, was well balanced with reality and hope. The group also felt you authentically listened to our perspectives which would be sincerely considered in your future leadership decisions. As I hope you gathered, there are no more dedicated, passionate and devoted to the spirit of Fielding and it potential to have profound transformational impacts on its students.

School of Human & Organizational Development Faculty Member, Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu, EdD, Co-Authors a Book with His Graduate School Mentor

"I highly recommend Synergy, Healing, and Empowerment for all those interested in indigenous psychology and cross-cultural psychology. I believe that all professional psychologists and policy makers can benefit from the profound insights of the authors."American Psychological Association

Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu’s recent book, Synergy, Healing, and Empowerment: Insights from Cultural Diversity, has a special meaning for him as the co-author is his mentor from graduate school, Richard Katz. “Professor Katz had an unforgettable impact on my life as a mentor and to be able to write and publish a book together is amazing.”

They first met when Katz was a professor at Harvard and Murphy-Shigematsu was a young man searching for a way to integrate his experiences in Japan studying healers into a career path. “He became a mentor in the deepest sense of seeing in me what I could not yet see in myself and trusting me in ways that led me to take on challenges that I was hesitant to accept. Our personal and professional relationship is a wonderful testimony to the power of mentoring.”

Synergy, Healing, and Empowerment is a book that originated in discussion with Katz and his many dedicated graduate students. It went through many iterations but was never completed. Katz left Harvard to become professor at what is now First Nations University of Canada where his contributions included building the Masters of Aboriginal Social Work Program. He also lived and worked with Indigenous Elders and healers around the world. After receiving his doctorate in psychology, Murphy-Shigematsu returned to Japan to be a professor at the University of Tokyo. It was many years before their paths crossed again, and the book helped to bring them together over a labor of love.

“A few years ago we were talking and I realized that the book might reach fruition as a collaborative effort so I offered my help. It is the product of the work of so many people that it is humbling to be able to claim it in any way as mine. Some of the collaborators have contributed papers while others have generated the ideas represented in the book.”

Murphy-Shigematsu describes Synergy, Healing, and Empowerment as part of the legacy of Professor Katz, representing innovative ideas he introduced at the highest levels of academia at a time when it took great courage to venture beyond the borders of an institution like Harvard. Katz’s paradigm of synergy influenced a large group of students who have gone on to distinguished careers as scholar-practitioners.

In Synergy, Healing, and Empowerment, Katz, Murphy-Shigematsu, and some colleagues offer the paradigm of synergy to overcome the scarcity of valuable health and education resources. The authors explore alternative ways in the areas of counseling, education, and community health and development to enhance synergy, expanding formerly scarce resources that can become renewable and accessible to all. Drawing upon the diverse cultural experiences of Aboriginal groups in North America and around the world, the book provides practical insights into the emergence of synergy and obstacles to its existence.

Stanley Krippner calls Synergy, Healing, and Empowerment “an incredible book, “necessary and timely,” that makes a “compelling case for the paradigm of synergy, which releases an ever-expanding network of healing and empowerment.” Paul Pedersen, a pioneer scholar in multicultural counseling, claims that it pushes the envelope and “shows the direction counseling and psychotherapy must go.” And President Katrina Rogers describes it as “a treasure, whose narrative approach to transformational education has potential to lead Fielding in conversation that allows people to open up their hearts to new ways of thinking about the complexity in the world.”

Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu is consulting professor, Stanford University School of Medicine, and a faculty member at Fielding Graduate University.

Richard Katz

Richard Katz, PhD, received his doctorate in clinical psychology from Harvard University and taught there for nearly 20 years. Over the past 45 years, he has also lived and worked with Indigenous Elders and healers around the world. Richard is currently a professor emeritus at the First Nations University of Canada and an adjunct professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Saskatchewan.

Fielding Has a Visible Presence at The Justice Conference

Reported by Monique L. Snowden, PhD, vice president for academic services at Fielding Graduate University

Fielding recently returned to the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles, CA where we sponsored the International Positive Aging Conference in 2010, 2011, and 2013. This time, however, we were at the fourth annual Justice Conference promoting Fielding student, faculty and alumni’s justice work and recruiting prospective students for our academic programs.

The conference included a lineup of plenary speakers, musical and spoken word artists, and discussion panelists. Nearly 2,000 conference attendees, sponsors and exhibitors packed the theater for each scheduled speaker, artist and panelist. In between talks and performances, the main lobby, mezzanine lobby, stairways and exhibitor areas were buzzing with rich dialogue about the “work” represented and inspired by those on agenda and attending the Justice Conference.

Many conference attendees, plenary speakers, panelists, artists and exhibitors came into and do justice work for reasons not shared by all and are grounded by doctrines not held by all. Differences in personal motivations or beliefs notwithstanding, those whom the Fielding delegation engaged in conversation shared our university’s vision to create a more humane, just and sustainable world. By way of our institutional values and demonstrable justice work we attracted interest in both our academic offerings and partnership opportunities with organizations in attendance like Memphis Teacher Residency (MTR). MTR proclaims that “Urban Education is the Greatest Social Justice and Civil Rights Issue in America Today.”

Bryan A. Stevenson, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, an Alabama-based group delivered a powerful message. Mr. Stevenson and his EJI colleagues have won major legal challenges eliminating excessive and unfair sentencing, exonerating innocent prisoners on death row, confronting abuse of the incarcerated and the mentally-ill, and aiding children prosecuted as adults.

Conference attendees were consistently reminded that justice work is intensive and extensive. As one conference speaker advised, to do our best justice work, we must manage our egos, exhaustion and emotional toxicity. We must remain humble in our work, take time to rejuvenate our spirits and re-energize our bodies, and balance our passion with necessary discipline and focus. We must keep top of mind that the difficult and never-ending fight for justice is not one that merely involves lifting up and comforting those who need resources and services.

Justice work requires us to stand with the poor, fight beside the condemned, and dwell amongst the vulnerable. We must see and hold ourselves accountable as one people who are global citizens of interrelated communities, states, countries, and continents. Slain humanitarian and civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. left us with a timeless justice credo, “We are bound by an inescapable garment of mutuality, whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

Founded in March 1974 in Santa Barbara, CA, The Fielding Institute (now Fielding Graduate University) Celebrates its 40th Year in Higher Education

Fielding Graduate University is the realization of the vision of three founders: Frederic Hudson, Hallock Hoffman, and Renata Tesch. The founders, all distinguished higher education administrators and educators, in their respective capacities as president, executive vice-president, and dean of education, each contributed an essential ingredient to the establishment of the university. Many other key individuals, through their diligence, hard work, and firm belief in the national need for mid-career professional education, gave substance to the dream.

The founders envisioned a nationally recognized graduate school, which would serve mid-career professionals who wanted to pursue an advanced degree but whose educational and professional objectives could not be met by traditional institutions of higher education. The founders succeeded in their mission. Their success was predicated on two basic, but at the time, rather advanced notions. First, they recognized that changing demographics were altering the nature of society, particularly the world of higher education.

More often than not, the founders speculated, students seeking advanced degrees would be mid-career adults who wanted to enhance their established academic and professional skills; who, in many cases, would be committed to effecting a mid-life career change; and all of whom, by the nature of their quest for a quality graduate education at mid-life, would be interested in being part of a lifelong learning community.

Second, the founders realized that adults learn new tasks and accrue knowledge in ways that differ significantly from those of adolescents and young adults. The traditional pedagogical method of education - active teacher, passive learner - would not be appropriate to this new experiment in adult professional education. To accommodate and capitalize upon the learning styles of its student, Fielding developed a rigorous, supportive learning model that today remains flexible, adult-centered, self-directed, task-oriented, and competence-based.

In the Fielding archives, an original document written by founder Frederic Hudson outlines the beginning of Fielding's history:

History and Background of The Fielding Institute

Fielding was founded in March 1974, as a graduate school in education and psychology designed to serve the educational interests of professional persons in mid-career. Fielding is new, small, and specialized. We chose two fields in which neither buildings nor equipment are especially important, in which our fascination with human beings and their learning, feeling and knowing could be the focus of our attention. We made our programs “external”—not to be carried on in our environment, but to be accomplished by our Students in connection with their own lives and work, in their own surroundings.

Fielding serves a distinct population: mature professional persons in mid-career. We aim to assist intelligent, competent adults to attain goals of their own, and to measure their achievements by their own increases in competence and knowledge.

Frederic Hudson and Hallock Hoffman first met on a committee established by the Western College Association to advise a study on the meaning of baccalaureate degrees. Subsequently, Frederic Hudson became associated with Laurence University, an external graduate program school. Dr. Hudson, asked Hallock Hoffman and Renata Tesch to join him as faculty members...Resigning from Laurence, we set up Fielding, in part to satisfy our desires to create a program of which we could be proud, and in part to fulfill our responsibilities to a group of students who had been studying with us at Laurence and who were in danger of being stranded by our departure.

Several of those students joined us by enrolling during the founding period of Fielding; their support enabled us to become a functioning school in a much shorter time than would otherwise have been possible. 19 of these students so far have graduated, because they were already at an advanced stage in their studies (with us as their program supervisors)when they entered the Fielding program. Of subsequent students who enrolled initially in Fielding, 10 Master of Arts students and 11 doctoral students have graduated.

The Institute was organized as a non-profit educational corporation in California in March, 1974. We obtained state and federal tax exemption shortly thereafter. We raised the necessary capital and completed the requirements for (a)(3)recognition under the then California education code in July, 1974. Since licensing is important for many of our psychology Students, we applied for and were successful in obtaining (a)(2) Approved status under the State Board of Education in July, 1975.(“Approved status” is now described by California Education Code 94310(b)). Our graduates are now eligible to be examined for the state licenses that may be obtained with “approved” school education. This includes the license as psychologist under the Psychology Examining Committee of the Board of Medical Examiners and the license for Marriage, Family and Child Counselors, from the Board of Behavioral Science Examiners, both of California. Some state agencies, however, are governed by laws that limit their licenses to graduates of “accredited”schools, and for such students, Fielding is presently not serviceable.

Our first students were enrolled in the Education Program. Our individual learning contract curriculum was different from Laurence’s traditional curriculum; but the Laurence transfer students were able to continue the studies they had begun within our Education Program. The Master of Arts Program had its first admission in the summer of 1974. The Psychology Program enrolled its first Students in the fall of 1974. The MA Plan 3 Program, a program to prepare enrollees for admission to the Psychology Doctoral Program, was initiated in 1976. At that same time, we began discussing the possibility of a cooperative program in Human Development with Pacific Oaks College. These discussions led to the present program in which Students in our Education Program can specialize in Human Development, taking course work from, doing research with, and being for some purposes supervised by the faculty of Pacific Oaks College. The first Students enrolled in this program in 1977. A smaller cooperative program with the REM Institute of Cleveland, Ohio, enables REM Students to enroll simultaneously in our MA plan 3 program, and permits them to use the REM faculty as Field Faculty Advisors, teachers and trainers. Student first enrolled in the MA program in 1976.

We did not raise any sizable amount of money in connection with founding Fielding. From the beginning we have believed that the Institute should support itself from current tuition income. The capitalization necessary for (a)(3) recognition was developed through a generous gift of educational films from the Encyclopedia Britannica Educational Corporation. The founding officers drew no salaries for the first several months and only partial salaries for the following year. We have been on full salary since September 1975, and in March 1976, the Trustees agreed that Fielding’s income was now sufficient to begin paying some of the officers’ salaries previously deferred. About half of this, the Corporation’s only debt, has now been paid.

The financial success of Fielding is thus a function of its ability to serve its students; and that equation is one we wish to preserve. We think it is healthy for us to be delivering educational services in exchange for payment; we do not want capital or endowment that would enable us to shift our primary attention away from services to students. We are creating reserves that ultimately will equal one year’s budget.

The financial success of Fielding is a direct outcome of the number of our enrollments. These have grown steadily, in accord with careful plans.